Application of dual source CT dual-energy angiography in cerebral blood vessels

Objective:To explore the application of dual-energy CT in the examination of cerebral blood vessels. Methods:60 patients were divided into two groups randomly.Group A:30 patients,using the first generation dual source CT,140/80 kVp,55/243m As.Group B:30 patients,using the second generation dual source CT,80/Sn 140kVp,208/ 104 mAs.The average CT value of bilateral carotid artery,image noise,signal-to-noise ratio,contrast-to-noise ratio and subjective image quality score in the two groups were compared.At the same time,the CT volume dose index(CTDIvol),dose length product(DLP)and the effective dose(ED)were also compared.Statistics was made with group data of t test. Results:There was no significant difference of image quality between the two groups(P0.05)in the objective and subjective assessment.The differences of radiation dose between the two groups were significant statistically(P0.05),the effective dose in Group B[(0.27±0.01)mSv]was about 30% less than that in Group A[(0.37±0.02)mSv].Conclusion: Compared to the first generation dual-source CT,the radiation dose of cerebral vascular imaging can be reduced significantly by using the second generation dual-source CT,which won't lead to image quality reduction.